ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Mysteriam uses experimental approaches to familiar-seeming music, discovering and inventing the beautiful accidents, the space in-between, the evidence of a Great Plan in the divine mystery we all participate in at every moment. If you buy music in order to get hooks stuck in your head for hours, you might not like us. This music is meant to be a satisfying challenge; a strange beauty, not a predictable one.

ENTRYWAY is a complex layering of pop and electronic elements, a thrilling fusion of catchy chaos and electronic components and processes. It is the first wide-release of recording artist Corbett Lunsford, in collaboration with Mexican contemporary dance company Antares Danza and Mysteriam members Mikalina Rabinsky, James Negley, Gopho.com, and a choir of spirited distraction.

Who is Mysterium? What is Mysterium? One may never know, but the music has a fresh sound unlike much of the formulaic electronica music one hears.

The sound design is clean and elegant. It is difficult to know how Mysterium's musicians work, but one can hear the soundscape created by the brainpower of these musicians. The first "song" is found on the fourth track. The harpsichord part has a soothing, but moving underlying harmonic progression, and the vocalists voice conveys the imagery quite well. One can feel an affirmative message in the words and voice.

Other tracks are rhythmically driven with a background soundscape that encourages one to relax into the music. This listener experienced affirmative messages in the music. I did not hear music that bombarded me with an artist's suffering, but a soundworld which put a smile on my face.

Now, if you are expecting a typical CD with 12 tracks of "songs" with lyrics on each track, this release is not for you. Too many of the tracks do not have a vocal part, or the vocal part is not the focal point of the track. This is refreshing in my opinion. However, I could see one be disappointed by the lack of vocals throughout the work.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not comment on the fact that I used the word elegant in the short review. This music has an elegance to it. This CD invites you to listen. Your ears are not violated by loud outbursts or obnoxious sounds. The artists, I am sure, ask you in the most respectful manner to sit down and listen to what our world is like. They ask, "Don't we live in a beautiful world? There are beautiful things all around us."

It’s tribal music merged with technology, an ambient soundtrack for space travel. The first track, “Approach,” reminds me of a swarm of winged insects or helicopters gathering ominously on a distant horizon of an alien planet, preparing for something subtly hostile. Futuristic blips and beeps morph with a semi-human-sounding primal scream, which launches into a vaguely Radiohead-esque electronic soundscape. Mostly this ends up sounding like outtakes from Kid A, but since Mysteriam is going for something way more experimental, that may actually be a great compliment. Some of these pieces would be most appropriate accompanying an installation in a modern art exhibit, while other tracks like “View” seem to aspire to a touch of Trent Reznor fused with Future Sound of London, with varying degrees of success. On “Invitation,” a Cuban-sounding string instrument welcomes a bongo-like beat before descending into discombobulation – headless sounds floating in some dark, alternate universe. Like everything new, this venture in sound and technology could just take some getting used to. (reviewer: Liza Monroy)

This music got my speakers to buzz in the car & my foot tapping. I was transported to Indian France (Frandia?), Sunken Gardens - fish, birds & plants in a light breeze, and Vietnam ghosts in Hell beating each other with cats and a rattlesnake. The Bells - The Bells!!!!! Waiting for what happens next!

This album seems to be built on a quiet intensity that oozes reality. Not overly dramatic or artsy, Entryway is calm but driving, understated yet powerful. Full of that truthfulness that permeated the Monster's Ball soundtrack that I enjoyed so much. Lunsford's haunting melodies, voice and progressions, along with his grasp of how to use and bend rhythms and lyrics, combine to allow him to articulate a range of ideas that put me in a variety of headspaces. I use different tracks on this cd for meditating, working out, and falling asleep. I absolutely love the idea of "it's so great, but what the heck is it?" which I felt over and over again about the instruments and sounds used. Amazing and inspiring work.

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